From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In psychology, the
term affectional bond is a type of attachment
behavior one individual has for another individual, typically a
mother for her child, in which the two partners tend to remain in
proximity to one another.[1] The
term was coined and subsequently developed over the course of four
decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, by psychologist John Bowlby in his work
on attachment theory. The core of the
term ‘affectional bond’, according to Bowlby, is the attraction one
individual has for another individual. The central features of the
concept of affectional bonding can be traced to Bowlby’s 1958
paper: “the Nature of the Child’s Tie to his Mother.”[2]

Contents

Five
criteria

Bowlby referred to attachment bonds as a specific type of a
larger class of bonds that he and developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth
described as "affectional" bonds. Ainsworth (1989) established five
criteria for affectional bonds between individuals, and a sixth
criterion for attachment bonds:

An affectional bond is persistent, not transitory.

An affectional bond involves a particular person who is not
interchangeable with anyone else.

An affectional bond involves a relationship that is emotionally
significant.

The individual wishes to maintain proximity or contact with the
person with whom he or she has an affectional tie.

The individual feels sadness or distress at involuntary
separation from the person.

A true attachment bond, however, has an additional criterion:
the person seeks security and comfort in the relationship.